CFR Cluj 0-5 Tromso ( att : 6,729 ) – 2026/27 UEFA Conference League

 August 6, 2026

The draw from the UEFA Conference League Play-Off resulted in Brighton and Hove Albion being drawn against the winners of the Third Qualifying Round tie between CFR Cluj and Tromso. Fatbear decided it would be an opportunity to spy on Albion’s potentials opponents !

By finishing third in the Romania SuperLiga, CFR Cluj were exempt to the Second Qualifying Round of the Conference League where they were drawn against Armenian side Alashkert. A 1-1 draw was played out in the first leg in Yerevan, and Cluj cruised to a 3-0 home victory in the return, in front of a crowd of 5,465.

Tromso’s third place in the 2025 Eliteserien qualified them for the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa League, where they were perhaps surprisingly eliminated by Czech side Hradec Kralove. The Czechs grabbed a 1-0 away win in front of 5,082 spectators in Tromso, and although the Norwegian side scored first in the second leg with Larsen’s acrobatic close range finish after Innvaer’s strong run to level the tie, Hradec responded with three headed goals to progress 4-1 on aggregate. Tromso therefore dropped down to the Conference League.

Norway were 14^th in the UEFA coefficients used to determine the number of sides each country had this year in each UEFA club competitions, whereas Romania were 21^st.

Football In Romania

These diaries covered Universitatea Craiova’s first leg in their First Round Champions League tie against Levski Sofia last month, which they lost 0-1 in Bulgaria. This was these diaries 6^th match report on games involving Romanian sides, in addition to 6 match-day reviews/round-ups on the  Romania SuperLiga. However, CFR Cluj had not been featured in any match reports, although they had mentions in the 5 weekly round-ups.

The report on the Universitatea Craiova vs Levski game gave details on the format of the Romanian SuperLiga.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2026/07/levski-sofia-1-0-universitatea-craiova.html 

The 2026/27 season in Romania had already started, and after their 3^rd place finish last season, CFR Cluj had made a disappointing start, with one win and two losses in the three games played so far. Both defeats had come away from home, going down 1-2 at Otelul Galati, and 1-3 at Rapid Bucharest, although a 5-0 home win had been registered over FC Voluntari, who had been reduced to 10 men after just 12 minutes.

CFR Cluj

The club were founded in 1907 in the city of Cluj-Napoca, the second largest city in Romania, located in the north-west of the country in the province of Transylvania. Cluj-Napoca is located around 460km north-west of the capital, and similar distances to Belgrade to the south-west and Budapest to the north-west.

When the club was founded, Cluj-Napoca was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and only became part of Romania in 1920, and around 50,000 people, 14% of the population, today are ethnic Hungarian.

After becoming part of Romania, the club changed its name from Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club, which from Hungarian translates as Cluj Railway Sport Club, to Căile Ferate Române Cluj, or Romanian Railways. Although the state railway carrier was dissolved in 1998 into four autonomous privatised companies, the football club retained the CFR initials in its name.

CFR have won the Romanian title on 8 occasions, with the first being in 2007/08, and there were 5 consecutive successes between 2017/18 and 2021/22, which was the last title won. CFR were runners-up in 2023/24 and 2024/25, and the Romanian Cup has been won 5 times, the last time in 2024/25.

Home is the Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Stadium, named after a former player, coach and club doctor, but is commonly referred to as the CFR Cluj Stadium. It has a capacity of 17,408 and a grass pitch. CFR Cluj’s average home attendance last season was only 3,159, the third lowest in the SuperLiga, and down from 4,499 from the previous season.

 

There are two top flight sides in Cluj-Napoca, so CFR Cluj are not to be confused with Universitatea Cluj, with whom there is a long-standing rivalry !

CFR Cluj’s colours have traditionally been white and burgundy, leading to one of their nicknames being The White and Burgundies, with The Railwaymen being another popular nickname.

CFR Cluj have a decent record in Europe, with their best performance being in 2012/13 when they finished third in their Champions’ League Group with 10 points, after a win against Manchester United at Old Trafford, two wins over Braga, and a draw in Istanbul with Galatasaray. This remains the best performance by a Romanian team in the Champions League, although of course Steaua Bucharest won the European Cup in 1986 beating Barcelona on penalties in the final in Seville.

CFR have also won matches against Roma, Lazio, Celtic ( twice ) and Basel ( three times ), whilst draws were played against Chelsea, Roma, and Lazio.

In the 2025/26 UEFA Europe League, CFR eliminated Hungarian side Paks 3-0 on aggregate, then Lugano 1-0, before being eliminated 1-4 on aggregate by Braga. Dropping down the UEFA Conference League, Cluj lost 2-7 on aggregate to Swedish side Hacken.

CFR Cluj Squad

The CFR Cluj squad didn’t contain any players who had represented the national side within the past 12 months. Indeed, the only current internationals were Mauritanian defender Aly Abeid ( 76 caps ) and Kosovan winger Meriton Korenica ( 6 caps ), who was the joint highest valued player according to Transfermrkt at €3M.

Also rated at €3M was right-winger Andrei Cordea ( 5 caps ), who had returned to Romania after a short spell in Saudi Arabia.

Foreign players in the squad included ex-Jablonec and Rio Ave Croatian defender Renato Pantalon, who hopefully wouldn’t be caught with his pants down,  veteran German right-back Cristopher Braun had played for Botosani and Rapid Bucharest after moving from OFI Crete, Serbian striker Stefan Drazic had played in Belgium, China, Hungary and Cyprus before joining Cluj, Portuguese left-back Simao Rocha was ex-Pacos de Ferreira, Croatian midfielder Karlo Muhar had played for Lech Poznan, Kayserispor, CSKA Sofia and in Saudi Arabia, whilst veteran Damjan Djorkovic had played for Bologna, Cesena, Livorno, Ajaccio, Furth and sides in Turkey, Saudi Arabia in addition to FCSB and Rapid Bucharest, and doesn’t appear to be any relation to Novak !

Midfielder Alin Fica had been with CFR since 2020 whilst keeper Octovian Valceanu had played for several sides in Romania before joining CFR last season. Midfielder Adrian Paun ( 1 cap ) had played in Isreal, forward Andres Sfait had briefly been with Saleritarnia, whilst Portugal born midfielder Mario Camora had 10 caps for Romania.

The coach was Portuguese Antonio Folha ( 26 caps ), who had played for Porto, Standard Liege and AEK Athens as a player.

Football In Norway

These diaries have covered 5 matches from Norway’s Eliteserien, with the most recent being the Valerenga vs Molde game in June last year.

There are 16 sides in the Norway Eliteserien, who play each other twice for a 30-game season. The Champions qualify for the UEFA Champions League play-off round, with the runners-up entering the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League. The Cup Winners go through to the Europa League play-off round whilst the third placed side enter the Europa League Second Qualifying Round. The team finishing in fourth place enter the Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round. The bottom two sides are relegated to the Norway First League, known as the OBOS-ligaen, whilst the side finishing 14^th face a play-off against the winner of the First League promotion play-offs.

Norway is one of Europe’s 12 summer leagues and the 2026 season is half way through, with Bodo/Glimt leading the 2025 champions Viking Stavanger by one point but from one game more played. Tromso were in third place a further three points behind but 9 points clear of Lillestrom in 4^th place.

Tromso IL

Tromso is located inside the Arctic Circle on the island of Tromsoya and the municipality has a population of around 80,000, the 12^th largest in Norway. The journey by road is just under 1,750 km and would take nearly 22 hours, with the vast majority of the trip being through Sweden.  The flight takes 1 hour 50 minutes, which Fatbear has taken as flights to Svalbard needed to clear customs in Tromso before flying on to Longyearbyen. Therefore, Fatbear has been to Tromso Airport and seen the city from the air !

Tromso Idrettslag were founded in 1920 but clubs from northern Norway were only allowed to participate in the Norwegian Cub in 1963, and only in 1972 play in the top division. Tromso were promoted to play in the 1986 first division and played there until relegation in 2001. However, the stay in the second level was just for one season, as were the 2014 and 2020 seasons when they also played in the second tier.

Tromso have finished as runners-up on two occasions, in 1990 and 2011, but they won the Norwegian Cup in 1986 and 1996, which Wikipedia claims makes Tromso the most northerly team on the planet to win a national trophy !

Home is the 6,691 capacity Romssa Area, which has an artificial pitch, and the team’s nickname is Guten, which translates as The Boys. Tromso colours have traditionally been red and white shirts with white shorts and socks.

Tromso’s average home attendance this season was currently 5,164, the 10^th highest in the Eliteserien, and up from the 4,958 on 2025. In their last outing, Tromso won 6-2 at Aalesund.

Tromso have enjoyed some success in Europe, first coming to wider attention in the 1997/98 Cup-Winners Cup when they beat a Chelsea side including Vialli, Zola, Wise, Leboeuf, De Goey, Clarke, Petrescu and Hughes and coached by Ruud Gullit. However, the 3-2 win was played in a blizzard, and the Chelsea All-Stars avoided further embarrassment by winning the return 7-1 !

Tromso eliminated Galatasaray from the 2005/06 UEFA Cup, and beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 in the Group Phase. A 1-1 home draw was played against Athletic Bilbao in the 2009/10 Europa League play-off round but they were eliminated 3-4 on aggregate.

The 2013/14 Europa League play-off round saw Tromso beat Besiktas 2-1 at home but lost the return 0-2 to lose the tie 2-3 on aggregate. However, Besiktas were kicked out of the competition due to the 2011 match-fixing scandals in Turkey, and Tromso were re-instated. Tromso though lost 5 of their 6 group matches, including home and away defeats to Tottenham Hotspur ( 0-2 & 0-3 ), with the only point coming from a 1-1 home draw with Sheriff Tiraspol.

In the 2024/25 Conference League, Tromso recorded home and away 1-0 victories over Finnish side KuPS but disappointingly exited the competition to Kilmarnock. Although the first leg was a 2-2 draw in Scotland, a 0-1 home reverse in the return saw the Scottish side progress.

Tromso Squad

The Tromso squad had two current internationals, Mauritanian keeper Abderrahame Sarr ( 8 caps ) and Cape Verde forward Ieltsin Cameos ( 1 cap ). Cameos was the top scorer last season with 13 goals.

Veteran midfielder and captain Ruben Janssen was an ex-international ( 39 caps ), and had played in Germany for Kaiserslautern and for Dutch side Groningen.

The highest valued player at €10M according to Transfermrkt was Under 21 international midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl, who was this season’s joint top scorer so far with 7 goals, alongside midfielder Heine Asen Larsen. Swedish Under 21 full-back-back Alexander Warneryd had found the net 5 times this season.

Other foreign players in the Tromso squad included Danish keeper Jakob Haugaard, who had played for Stoke City, Wigan Athletic and AIK Stockholm, ex-Varnamo Swedish midfielder David Edvardsson and ex-Orgryte Swedish midfielder Isak Dahlqvist.

Forward Troy Nyhammer and midfielder Sander Innvaer had both previously played for Haugesund and appeared in these diaries in the relegation/play-off game in December 2024 against Moss FK.

The coach was Jorgen Vik, a former Norway Futsal international.

Matchday Information

The distance between Tromso and Cluj-Napoca is around 3,400 kilometres by road and ferry. There are no direct flights between the two cities, so unless flying on a chartered aircraft, the journey could take anything from 7 to 12 hours depending on the stopovers. It looked like around 20 Tromso supporters had travelled.

The weather at the 19.30 local time kick-off ( 17.30 UK ) was sunny and 33 degrees.

Tickets for the match were between 40-45 Lei ( £6.50 - £7.35 ), with VIP tickets 140 Lei ( £23 ) and 310 Lei ( £50 ) for the Business Lounge.

Bet365, who live streamed the match, made Tromso 17/10 favourites, with Cluj at 27/20 and the draw 11/5.

CFR Cluj were playing in all burgundy but with a broad white band down the front of their shirts, whilst Tromso were wearing a change kit of all dark blue

Tromso made four changes to the side that started the defeat to Hradec Kralove with Mathias Tonnessen, Lars Larsen, Dahlqvist and Nyhammer coming into the starting XI. Cameos and Innvaer dropped to the bench whilst Hjerto-Dahl was rumoured to be about to sign for Premiership Hull City for €11.5M and Tobias Guddal had been sold to Sparta Prague for €4.5M

Cluj made three changes to the team that took to the field against Alashkert with ex-Grasshoppers and Aston Villa Portuguese keeper Andre Moreira replacing Valceanu, Camora replaced Rocha, and Bruno Costa was in for Djokovic.

The referee was Patrik Kolaric from Croatia

Match Report

Nearly three minutes had been played before the Bet365 live stream became available, and almost immediately after there was a goal to report ! 

Warneryd went on a mazy run into the Cluj area. His cross took a slight deflection, enough for Lars Larsen to only be able to head upwards, but when the ball was falling, Heine Larsen hooked the ball home from the 6-yard line ahead of Abeid and Camora. Frankly, the two defenders could have done a lot better and were not brave enough. 0-1 in the 5^th minute.

Tromso’s lead could have been doubled a minute later as Jenssen ran through the middle of the Cluj half and offloaded to Heine Larsen on his left, but the left-footed shot was sliced wide from 12 yards.

The first Cluj were seen as an attacking threat came in the 9^th minute when a long ball found Cordea, but Tonnessen defended well and won the ball. Fica then played a ball through the left-hand channel and Korenica kept the ball in play and laid the ball back to Camora, but the cross was hit too long and sailed harmlessly beyond the far post.

Muhar then ran onto a flick and into the Tromso area, but his low shot across goal went narrowly wide.

However, Tromso soon scored again. A short pass from Janssen put Heine Larsen in oceans of space as a huge gap in the heart of the Cluj defence opened, and Larsen’s left footed side-footed shot from just inside the D nestled into the keeper’s bottom right-hand corner. It was now 0-2 with 19 minutes played.

Cluj responded with an in-swinging left-footed free-kick from Cordea which Heine Larsen, back helping out in defence, headed off for a corner.

The Cluj defence was struggling to cope with the visitors’ slick attacking moves and a third goal was soon added. Edvardsson played a diagonal ball towards the far post which Dahlqvist controlled, and with Camora unable to close him down, drilled across goal into far corner from just outside the angle of the yard box . There was a VAR check to see if Jenssen had been offside in the build-up, but Abeid had played the Tromso midfielder onside so the goal stood. 0-3 after 28 minutes.

Jenssen tried his luck from distance but Moreira dived to hold the 25-yarder. For Cluj, Muhar ran down left-hand channel but his low cross was cut out.

A comedy moment arrived in the 32^nd minute when Isak Vadebu pushed Korenica in the chest and the Kosovan went down holding his head. The battle between these two players continued two minutes later as Korenica was tackled by Vadebu when about to shoot from 8 yards out. The ball trickled through to keeper Haugaard, and Korenica stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes with an apparent injury. However, a miraculous recovery occurred and he was good to continue, and was soon fouling Vadebu when the young Tromso defender made a headed clearance.

Four minutes before half-time Nyhammer was allowed to run down the right wing and then across the 18- yard line, and his left footed effort hit both posts before going into the net. It looked like a hammer blow to Cluj, but a VAR check showed Heine Larsen to be in an offside position, and although not in the direct eyeline of keeper, his jump to get out of the way of the ball was enough for the goal to be chalked off.

Haugaard’s leisurely evening was disturbed when he needed to leap and catch a long ball just inside his area ahead of Drazic

In first-half added time, Tromso centre-back Skjaervik was unexpectedly marauding in space on the right wing but his floated cross was headed away by Pantalon.

The half-time statistics showed Cluj had 57% of the possession but in truth they had been outplayed, and had managed just one shot, which was off target. Tromso had impressed with their short, quick passing, and a desire to swiftly break.

Cluj changed their keeper for the start of the second half although Moreira had not been at fault for any of the three goals, nor the disallowed one. Muhar was also hooked, with Uruguayan Francisco Barrios taking his place

Cluj were unable to get into the second half, with the only action in the opening 10 minutes being Nyhammer’s shot from the edge of the area which Valceanu comfortably saved.

Nyhammer was the recipient of the first yellow card of the game, taking a heavy first touch after being put clear by Heine Larsen and then slid into Valceanu as the Cluj keeper had bravely come off his line to dive on the ball. Bruno Costa soon levelled the yellow card score though, after a clumsy challenge on Edvardsson when trying to win a header on edge of the Tromso area

Matter got worse for Cluj. Lars Larsen’s cute chip gave Heine Larsen a one-on-one with the keeper but Valceanu was able to block the first attempt, and the follow-up from the rebound was blocked by Braun. Nyhammer then had an effort blocked by Abeid but the loose ball was lashed home in Carlos Alberto style by Dahlqvist to make it 0-4 with 61 minutes on the clock.

Cluj now couldn’t get near the ball as Tromso confidently pass it around, The Railwaymen had appeared to have run out of steam !

Substitute Cameos moved clear down the left and his low ball found Nyhammer unmarked 10 yards out, but the first-time shot hit Valceanu’s legs.

A drinks break was taken after 70 minutes, but the refreshments didn’t seem to have any benefit to Cluj as Cameos slipped a pass through for Dahlqvist to put the ball past the advancing keeper for his hat-trick. There was a lengthy VAR check for offside but goal stood. 0-5 after 73 minutes.

With the game and almost certainly the tie settled, Tromso took the foot off the gas a little and Cluj ended the match on the front foot. Substitute Lorenzo Biliboc sent a long range left-footed effort over the bar, then poor defending by Tromso allowed the ball to fall to Fica but the shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Substitute Paun had a shot deflected wide for corner, which after being cleared, Sfait’s 30 yarder bounced through to Haugaard for an easy save. Drazic then shot wide after a flick from Fica.

Three added minutes were played but Tromso were not unduly troubled. There was still time for Camora to be shown a yellow card for diving in on Mads Mikklesen.

The second leg now looks to be a formality barring a record-breaking comeback from Cluj, so Brighton fans should be able to sample the Paris Of The North and try to see the Northern Lights ! 

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlZmq2SWXL4

CFR Cluj : Moreira ( Valceanu ) – Braun, Abeid, Pantalon, Camora – Bruno Costa ( Paun ), Muhar ( Barrios ), Fica – Cordea ( Sfait ), Drazic, Korenica ( Biliboc )

Tromso IL : Haugaard – Vadebu, Tonnessen, Skjaervik, Warneryd ( Innvaer ) – Dahlqvist ( Mikklesen ), Edvardsson ( Grundt ), Jenssen, L. Larsen – Nyhammer ( Braut ), H. Larsen ( Cameos )

 

Levski Sofia 1-0 Universitatea Craiova ( att : 16,118 ) - 2026/27 UEFA Champions League

July 22, 2026

This week saw the first legs of the Second Round of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League and Fatbear’s choice was the match between the champions of Bulgaria against the champions of Romania.

In the first round Levski eliminated Borac Banja Luka, the champions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 4-0 home victory in front of a near capacity crowd of 17,345 after a 1-1 draw in the first leg. Universitatea Craiova had won both games against Belarus champions Maxline Vitebsk, winning the first leg played in Hungary due to the sanctions against Belarus 4-1, and then eased through the second leg via a 1-0 home victory with 14,008 spectators in attendance.

This winners of this tie would play Omonia of Cyprus or Kairat Almaty from Kazakhstan in the Third Qualifying Round.

In the current UEFA coefficients, Bulgaria were 27^th whereas Romania were 20^th.

Football In Bulgaria

These diaries had previously prepared three previews/reviews of the Bulgarian Parva Liga in 2020, then wrote previews of Ludogorets’ European ties in Belarus in 2020 and 2021. A return to Bulgaria was long overdue !

Ludogorets run of 14 consecutive titles came to an end last season as Levski won their 27^th title, but their first since 2008/09, as they finished 14 points ahead of CSKA 1948 and Ludogorets. Levski’s average attendance was 10,017, the highest in the division.

For the 2026/27 season, the league has been reduced from 16 sides to 14, who will play each other twice for a 28 regular season. The top four will then form the Championship Group and play 6 more matches to determine the champions. Fifth to Eighth will form the Conference League Group, with the best placed side having a one-off game against 4^th in the Championship Group for a place in the UEFA Conference League.

The bottom 8 form the Relegation League, and the bottom side after the 7 additional games will be automatically relegated, whilst 2^nd and 3rd bottom play relegation/promotion play-offs against 2^nd and 3^rd in the Second League.

The new league season started last weekend, and is scheduled to finish at the end of May.

PFC Levski Sofia

Levski were formed in 1914 and were named after Vasil Levski, a Bulgarian revolutionary renowned as a national hero and who was sentenced to death by hanging by the Ottoman Empire in 1873.

Formerly the side of the Interior Ministry, Levski are known as the Blues or the Blue Avalanche. Home is the 17,688 capacity Georgi Asparuhov Stadium, named after the former international striker who played at the 1970 World Cup but was tragically killed in a car crash in 1971.

Levski reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup, in 1969/70, 1976/77 and 1986/87. They have twice also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, in 1975/76 and 2005/06. Levski have eliminated VFB Stuttgart and Glasgow Rangers from the European Cup, Boavista from the Cup Winners Cup, and Ajax, MSV Duisburg, Olympiakos, VFB Stuttgart, Dynamo Kiev in the UEFA Cup. Notable individual victories have also been registered over Barcelona, Lazio, Atletico Madrid, Marseille and Sporting Lisbon.

Levski started the defence of their league title with a 2-1 home win over newly promoted Dunav Ruse. Goals from captain Dimitrov and Algerian midfielder Akram Bouras had given Levski a 2-goal lead with around 20 minutes left to play, but after being on course for a routine victory, they were nervously hanging on after Dunav pulled one back with 5 minutes remaining. The game attracted a crowd of 11,000.

Levski Squad

Winger Everton Bala was the league’s top scorer last season with 18 goals and was one of three Brazilians in the Levski squad, alongside left-back Maicon and new signing Reinaldo, who scored twice in the win over Borac, and had played in Portugal for Alverca, Chaves and Santa Clara. Reinaldo reportedly cost €1.5M.

Other signings during the summer included Portuguese central midfielder Serginho for €1M, also from Santa Clara, Angolan forward David Kusso from Chaves for a reported €900K, Moroccan midfielder Mehdi Moubarik from UAE side Al-Ain, and Spanish left-back Alex Centelles joined from Almeria on a free transfer.

Irish Under 21 midfielder Armstrong Oxo-Flex might be known to some in the UK, having started his career at Celtic, before moving on to West Ham United, Swansea City, then FC Zurich.  Slovenian midfielder Gaspar Trdin played for Bravo and Radomlje in his homeland, right back Oliver Kamdem had 2 caps for Cameroon, and North Macedonian centre-back Nikola Serafimov ( 29 caps ) had played for two clubs in Hungary before joining Levski.

Forward Juan Perea was from Colombia, Venezuelan defender Christian Makoun ( 15 caps ) had played for Inter Miami, Charlotte, New England Revolution and Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta, and Croatian centre-back Stipe Vulikic joined from Sampdoria having previously played for Perugia and Modena.

Only three Bulgarians featured in the win over Borac, centre-back and captain Kristian Dimitrov ( 24 caps ), who had a spell with Hajduk Split, keeper Svetoslav Vutsov ( 10 caps ) and forward Stivan Stoyanchov

Levski’s coach was Spaniard Julio Velazquez, who in the past had been in charge of Alaves, Villareal, Betis, Belenenses, Maritimo, Udinese, Fortuna Sittard and Real Zaragoza.

Football In Romania

These diaries have published 5 match reports and 6 match-day reviews/round-ups for Romania, with the most recent being in January 2025. However, Universitatea Craiova had not been featured in any match reports, although they had mentions in the 5 weekly round-ups.

The Romania SuperLiga consists of 16 sides who play each other home and away for a 30-game regular season. The top 6 form the Championship group, with the points won halved, for 10 further games. The top 2 and the Cup Winners take three of the four European places.

The bottom 10 form the Play-Out Round, with again the points being halved, and the bottom two sides are relegated. Third and fourth bottom will face two-legged play-offs against the sides finishing 3^rd and 4^th in Liga II.

The top two sides in the Play-Out Round have a one match play-off for the right to play the 4^th placed side in the Championship Group for the final remaining European spot.

Last season Universitatea Craiova finished 4 points ahead of Universitatea Cluj to win their 5^th title in their history, but the first one since 1990/91. CFR Cluj were a further three points behind, but 4^th placed Dinamo Bucharesti lost the play-off to FCSB, who had finished 7^th in the regular season, and had been 8^th after the Play-Out Round.

Craiova did the double, beating U Cluj on penalties in the Cup Final after a 0-0 draw, which was the 8^th time they had won the Cup.

Like Bulgaria, the new season started last weekend, and is also scheduled to finish at the end of May.

CS Universitatea Craiova

The club were initially founded in 1948 as part of the CSU Craiova Sports Organisation. Craiova, which is located 230km west of Bucharest, is the sixth largest city in Romania.

In 1991 the Craiova Sports Organisation dissolved it football organisation, ironically after the club had achieved a domestic double, and a new privatised club FC U Craiova was formed and took the place of CS Universitatea Craiova in the League. The new club ran into legal troubles in the early 2010s and were disaffiliated by the Romanian FA. Dissatisfied with the state of affairs the University reformed its football section and the new side were placed in Liga II.

Lengthy court battles then followed between the two Craiova clubs, similar to that of Steaua Bucharest and FCSB, over who was the legitimate successor to the history and records from 1948 to 1991, with the University arguing that they did not hand over any records and that FC U Craiova 1948 were actually a new club. In 2016 the courts agreed, and FC U Craiova 1948 are now in Liga III.

Home is the Ion Oblemeco Stadium which was renovated in 2017 and now has a capacity of 30,983.

Craiova’s colours have traditionally been white shirts with blue shorts and socks, but the current shirt has a white top half and mostly blue bottom half. Their nickname is usually the white-blues but Wikipedia lists several others, including The Students.

Craiova have a proud record in Europe, being European Cup quarter-finalists in 1981/82 when they were eliminated by Bayern Munich, and semi-finalists in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup when after eliminating Fiorentina, Shamrock Rovers, Bordeaux and Kaiserslautern, they lost on away goals to Benfica.

In 1979/80 Craiova won both legs in the UEFA Cup against Leeds United 2-0, and in 1984/85 Betis were eliminated on away goals, making Craiova one of the few sides to have won European ties against teams from the big 5 countries in Europe ( England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France ).

In the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League, Craiova got past Bosnian side FK Sarajevo, Spartak Trnava from Slovakia and Istanbul Basaksehir to reach the League Phase, where they beat Mainz and Rapid Wien, drew with Armenian side Noah, but lost to Rakow Czestochowa from Poland, Sparta Prague and AEK Athens to exit the competition.

Craiova’s average home attendance last season was 14,066, the highest in the SuperLiga.

Craiova started the defence of their title with a 4-0 home win over UTA Arad on Saturday. With several first-choice players rested with tonight’s game in mind, Craiova only led 1-0 with 5 minutes left to play, but three goals at death put a gloss to the scoreline. Teles, Baiaram, Elisor were on target and an own goal completed the scoring, with the attendance being 10,833.

Craiova had already secured their first piece of silverware for the season by winning the Super Cup, beating U Cluj on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

CS Universitatea Craiova Squad

The most recognisable name to Fatbear in the Craiova squad was midfielder Tudor Baluta ( 14 caps ) who was signed by Brighton and Hove Albion as a 20-year-old from Viitorul Constanza but made only one appearance in the EFL Cup before being loaned out to ADO Den Haag and Dynamo Kiev, before being sold to Farul Constanza. He had now returned to Romania after a spell with Slask Wroclaw.

The highest valued player at €5M according to Transfermrkt was winger Stefan Baiaram ( 6 caps ), whilst other current Romanian internationals included ex-Fehervar, Pisa and Pafos centre-back Adrian Rus ( 23 caps ), left wing-back Nicusor Bancu ( 52 caps ), ex-Galatasaray midfielder Alexandru Cicaldau ( 39 caps ), midfielder David Matei ( 2 caps ), and midfielder Vladimir Screciu ( 8 caps ) whilst keeper Laurentiu Popescu was called-up to the most recent national squad but did not make his debut.

Foreign players in the squad include Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Romanchuk ( 1 cap ), Croatian Under 21 international left-back Juraj Badelj, Costa Rican winger Carlos Mora ( 23 caps ), Portuguese midfielder Samuel Teles, Nigerian striker Monday Etim, who had played in the USA and for three sides in Denmark, and last season’s top scorer with 11 goals, Palestine forward Assad Al Hamlawi ( 3 caps ), had played in Sweden, Thailand and for Slask Wroclaw.

Centre-back Nikola Stevanovic had 1 cap for Serbia, Jamaican defender Ronaldo Webster ( 6 caps ) had played for North Macedonian side Shkendija, French forward Simon Elisor had played for Ajaccio, Seraing, Metz, Troyes and Famalicao, ex-Benfica, Brest, Famalicao, Estoril and Maccabi Netanya Cape Verde winger Heri Tavares had 6 caps, whilst Georgian midfielder Anzor Mekvabishvili ( 33 caps ) was ex-Dinamo Tbilisi

The coach was Portuguese Felipe Coelho whose previous positions had included being assistant manager for South Korea and UAE.

Matchday Information

After a wet day, the weather at the 20.30 local time kick-off ( 18.30 UK ) was dry and 23 degrees.

Tickets for the match were between €13 and €17 but the game was sold out for home supporters. There were some spaces visible in the away enclosure. Programmes were €4 

 

Bet365, who live streamed the match made Levski 5/4 favourites, with Craiova at 21/10 and the draw 2/1.

Levski were playing in all blue with the names of their players on the back of the shirts in the Cyrillic alphabet but the sponsors’ name on the front was in Roman script. Craiova were wearing an all-white kit with blue patches on the front shoulders and upper chest and blue numbers.

Levski made three changes to the side that started against Borac Banja Luka, with Portuguese right-back Aldair Neves replacing Kamdem, whilst Bouras and Moubarik came into midfield at the expense of Trdin and Centelles.

Craiova made four changes to the team that took to the field against Vitebsk, with Screciu , Mekvabishvili, Bancu and Elisor replacing Badelj, Baluta, Teles and Al Hamlawi

The referee was Adam Ladeback from Sweden

Match Report

All the early possession went to Levski and with just over a minute played a low ball from the left by Reinaldo needed to be put off a corner by Rus.

The early pressure told as a right-wing cross from Serginho was met by the stooping Dimitrov to head high into the roof of the net from 6 yards at the far post. 1-0 after 8 minutes.

Levski were looking to add a quick second goal but after a ball down the right-hand channel, the attempted pass from Neves in search of Reinaldo inside the area was cut-out.

Craiova were first seen as an attacking force in the 14^th minute when a slick move saw Cicaldau keep the ball in play with a pull back from the byline inside the Levski area. The ball reached the unmarked Mora just inside the 18-yard line, who had time, but blazed high over the bar.

The visitors then saw three shots from edge of area blocked and Levski broke quickly, and after some lively play by Reinaldo, Serginho saw his shot held by keeper Popescu diving low to his right.

A short spell of pressure by Craiova saw Bancu’s low shot-cum-cross from left held by keeper Vutsov at his near post, then Etim’s low ball from the right-hand byline was put out for a corner.

Levski were soon back on the front foot, and when Neves cut in from the right-hand touchline, his fierce shot from the edge of the area was pushed away by Popescu diving to his left.

With 28 minutes played Elisor was lucky to escape receiving a yellow card after a bad foul on Neves close to the half-way line.

A minute later Craiova forced a corner, but Screciu fouled a defender in effort to head the ball.

The first yellow card of the game finally arrived in the 33^rd after Romanchuk’s late tackle on Maicon as the Levski left-back ran past him.

Popescu then needed to be alert to dive on a pull-back by Bouras from the Universitatea byline then at the other end Baiaram ran into the Levski area and was able to prod the ball to Mekvabishvili just outside area, but the Georgian shot high and wide.

The lively Reinaldo ran past the static Rus inside the Craiova area, but the shot from a tight angle went into side netting.

A flare up occurred five minutes before the interval as Neves and Bancu challenged for a loose ball. There didn’t appear too much to it until Baiaram needlessly joined in and was shown a yellow card for his contribution. Neves also saw yellow.

The last action of the first period saw Levski play a short free-kick only for the ball to then be floated across the edge of the penalty area. Serafimo headed high into air and Popescu made an easy catch.

It was 1-0 at half-time. Craiova had a slight edge in terms of the possession statistics, but the only shots on target had come from Levski.

There was nearly a dramatic start to the second half when Cicaldau latched on to a through ball from Mekvabishvili but the Craiova midfielder put the ball wide from 8 yards as Vutsov came off line.

The visitors had made a strong start after the break as a scramble then ensued in the Levski area after some poor defending to a cross, and when the ball again fell to Etim his shot struck the head of Vutsov from point-blank range. Levski somehow cleared and then broke quickly. Reinaldo’s threaded pass left Oko-Flex with just the keeper to beat. The Irishman attempted to chip Popescu as he came off his line and spread himself, but the keeper’s raised arm was able to made the block. Both sides could have scored in the space of less than 60 seconds……

Everton Bala became the next player to enter the referee’s note book for a bad foul.

Craiova forced another corner but again Levski broke quickly after clearing, as Reinaldo fed Oko-Flex who slid a pass to give Bouras a one on one with the keeper, but the midfielder put the ball over the bar from 12 yards. Again, Craiova were nearly undone by a lightning end to end move after an attack broke down.

The visitors’ response was for Baiaram to shoot wildly high and wide from a good position on left-hand side inside Levski area. Elisor then sent a diving header across goal but wide of the far post, after which Romanchuk sent a long-range effort harmlessly over.

Levski got the ball into the net for a second time in the 57^th minute but after Everton Bala was put clear by a slide-rule pass from Bouras, his calm finish across goal and inside the far post was chalked-off by the linesman’s raised flag for offside, which was confirmed by VAR.

Two minutes later Serginho robbed the dozing Screciu close to the touchline, but his low cross went just ahead of Reinaldo and Romanchuk put the ball of play for a corner. The set-piece was played short then floated to beyond far post, but the lurking Dimitrov could only shoot wide under pressure.

Craiova substitute Steven Nsimba attempted an ambitious long-range effort which bounced well wide

Oko-Flex then showed some good skill to send Bancu the wrong way and leaving him falling to the floor. However, it was Oko-Flex’s last contribution as he was immediately taken off !

With 66 minutes on the clock, a long drop-kick by Vutsov was latched onto by Reinaldo deep inside the Craiova half, but from his low ball across the goalmouth Screciu managed to get a foot to it to deflect to his keeper before Bouras could tap in.

Three minutes later Levski lost control as they took a short goal-kick and although Nsimba got a foot to it, the Frenchman was unlucky to see the ball roll the wrong side of the post.

Craiova came close again a minute later as Nsimba beat his marker down the left-hand side and sent a left-footed cross towards the far post where Mora stole in to strike the ball on the half-volley, but Vutsov produced a good diving save to concede a corner. Craiova played the corner short, then put the ball into mixer. Two shots were blocked before the ball fell to Nsimba close to the penalty spot, but his left footed effort flew a few feet over the bar.

The final 20 minutes saw Craiova having most of the possession but creating very little whilst Levski still looked dangerous on the counter. As the game moved into 4 minutes of added time, Maicon was shown a yellow card for sending Mora flying through the air.

Craiova ended the game with a bit of a whimper. Substitute Baluta’s long-range effort went yards over the bar, then with basically the last kick of the match a cross from a promising position on the right wing sailed high over the bar and off for a goal-kick.

Levski held on to the final whistle to take a one-goal lead to Romania next week, but it still all to play for.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIJ4puPxOoc 

Levski Sofia : Vutsov – Neves, Dimitrov, Sefafimov, Maicon – Bouras, Serginho ( Soula ), Moubarak ( Trdin ), Everton Bala ( Kusso ) – Reinaldo ( Stoyanchov ) , Oko-Flex ( Cantelles )

Universitatea Craiova : Popescu – Romanchuk, Rus, Screciu – Mora, Cicaldau, Mekvabishvili ( Baluta ), Bancus – Etim ( Teles ), Elisor ( Nsimba ), Baiaram ( Tavares )

 

FC Petrolul Ploeisti 3-1 FC Botosani ( att : 4,480 ) - 2024/25 Romania Superliga

January 27, 2025

Today was last day of round 23 in the 2024/25 in the Romania Superliga, and the second week since the resumption after the winter break.

These diaries last covered the Superliga at the start of August with a round-up of week 3.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/08/review-romania-202425-superliga-week-3.html 

The Superliga contains 16 sides who play each other home and away for a 30-game regular season. After this point the top 6 form the play-off round for 10 more matches with 50% of the points from the regular season carried forward, whilst the bottom 10 compete in the play-out round for 9 additional matches to determine two sides to enter a play-off for a place in the Europa Conference League, plus the two sides automatically relegated, and the two sides to enter the relegation play-offs.

FC Petrolul Ploeisti

Located 50km north of the capital Bucharest, Ploeisti is the 10^th largest city in Romania with a population of around 180,000.

Petrolul were formed in 1925 and have won the Romanian Championship four times, the last being in 1965/66. Three National Cups have been won, the most recent in 2012/13.

After being declared bankrupt in 2016, Petrolul have worked their way back up the Romanian pyramid and were champions of Liga II in 2021/22 to return to the Superliga, where they have finished 8^th and last season 11^th.

Home is the 15,073 capacity Ilie Oana, which was rebuilt in 2011, and their usual colours are all yellow with blue trims. Petrolul have several nicknames, including the Yellow Wolves, The Gasmen and The Oilmen.

Petrolul played Liverpool in the 1966/67 European Cup but despite a 3-1 home win, they exited the competition on away goals. In the 2013/14 Europa League, Petrolul eliminated Vikingur of the Faroe Islands and Vitesse Arnhem before facing Swansea City. Although the second leg was won 2-1, the damage had been done by a 1-5 reverse in Wales.

In 1995/96, Wrexham were the opponents in the European Cup Winners Cup, and Petrolul squeezed through 1-0 on aggregate, whilst their most notable success in Europe was perhaps eliminating Viktoria Plzen from the 2014/15 Europa League.

FC Petrolul This Season

Petrolul started the weekend in 7^th place with a 7-11-4 record, behind Rapid Bucharesti on goal difference. Their home record was 4-6-1.

Today was the first home match with ex-Chelsea, Juventus and Fiorentian striker Adrian Mutu ( 77 caps ) in charge. Turkish coach Mehmet Topal ( 81 caps ) was sacked in the winter break after only being appointed in the summer, and Mutu drew his first match, 0-0 at Otelul Galati.

Petrolul started the season well, with just one loss, 1-4 at Dinamo Bucharest, in their opening 11 fixtures to sit in 5^th place. However, only four games had been won, Rapid Bucharest ( H 1-0 ), Unirea Slobozia ( A 2-1 ), Botosani ( A 2-0 ) and FC Hermannstadt ( H 4-1 ). They had played four 0-0 draws but had drawn 1-1 at FCSB.

Further victories were registered over Poli Iasi ( H 3-1 ) and Gloria Buzau ( A 1-0 ).  A run of six league and cup matches without a win ended with a 2-1 home victory over Unirea Slobozia but that wasn’t enough to keep Topal in his job

Average home attendances so far this season have been 6,238, the 7^th best in the division, with the highest being the 9,700 that saw Rapid Bucharest beaten 1-0 at the end of July and summarised in these diaries.

FC Petrolul Squad

Petrolul’s top scorer this season on 8 goals was ex-Arsenal Tula and Sepsi OSK forward Alexandru Tudorie, who joined the club in the summer from UTA Arad. Next on the list was experienced striker Georghe Grozav ( 31 caps ) with 5 goals, which had previously played for Standard Liege and Terek Grozny amongst others.

Midfielder Sergiu Hanca ( 7 caps ) had previously played for Cracovia and Dinamo Bucharest whilst central defender Paul Papp ( 20 caps ) had played Chievo, Sivasspor, Steaua Bucharest as well as Botosani.

Foreign players in the Petrolul squad included Finnish midfielder, Tommi Jyry, who featured in these diaries in 2022 whilst playing for inter Turku, ex-Dunkerque French midfielder Tidiane Keita, ex-Gil Vincente and Voluntari Portuguese defender Ricardinho, whilst centre back Marian Huja was a junior at Watford and played in Denmark for Koge.

Centre-back Yohan Roche had 16 caps for Benin and had played in Turkey for Adanaspor whereas Nigerian striker Christian Irobiso had played in Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Saudia Arabia as well as Romania.

The goal scorer in the 1-0 win over Rapid, Kosovan Albin Berisha, was sold almost immediately to Hansa Rostock for €150K, whilst Czech keeper Lukas Zima joined FCSB for a reported €250K.

FC Botosani

Botosani is 440km north of the capital Bucharest, and with a population of around 120,000 is the 19^th largest city in Romania.

FC Botosani appeared in these diaries in February 2021 when they drew 0-0 at UTA Arad and they went on to finish 8^th that season. In the following year they came 12^th but last season they only stayed up by winning a relegation play-off against Mioveni.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2021/02/uta-arad-0-0-fc-botosani-att-0-romania.html 

FC Botosani This Season

Botosani started the round in 15^th place ( second from bottom ) with a 4-7-11 record, and were 1-3-7 away from home. They were already on their third coach of the season with Bogdan Andone sacked after two games, and Liviu Ciobotariu sacked during the winter break.

The only away win came at Farul Constanza in week 3 when these diaries reported on Stefan Bodisteanu’s winning goal. Botosani seem to enjoy playing against sides from the capital, winning 1-0 at home to FCSB, 2-0 at home to Rapid Bucharesti and drawing 2-2 at Dinamo Bucharest. Their other victory came against UTA Arad, 1-0 at home.

There had only been three weeks during the season when Botosani had been outside the bottom four.

FC Botosani Squad

Four of the team that played against UTA Arad in 2021 were in their squad for today’s match, namely left-back Alexandru Tiganasu, ex- Paris St-Germain French midfielder Hervin Ongenda, Albanian midfielder Enriko Papa and midfielder Eduard Florescu.

Nigerian right back Adams Friday was previously with Armenian side FC Noah, Slovenian defender Michael Pavlovic was previously Olimpija Ljubljana and Koper, Greek keeper Giannis Anetsis had played for AEK Athens and Goteborg, midfielder Aldair was Angolan, whilst full back Rijad Sadiku had played for several sides in his native Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as Moeskroen in Belgium

Centre-half Patrico Matricardi had played for Argentinos Juniors, Rotor Volvograd, Asteras Tripoli and three other sides in Romania and fellow countryman Enzo Lopez had played for Talleres back home and Deportivo Cuenca in Colombia.

Forward Adrian Chica-Rosa was the leading scorer with a paltry three goals.

Matchday Information

The distance between Botosani and Ploiesti is 415km and would take around 5 and a half hours by road.

Tickets for the match ranged between 15 to 60 Lei ( £2.50 to £10 )

The weather at the 17.00 local time kick off ( 15.00 UK ) was sunny and 12 degrees.

Bet365, who live streamed the match, made Petrolul evens favourites, with Botosani at 31/10 and the draw at 2/1,

Petrolul made two changes from the side that played at Arad, with Papp replacing Huja and Irobiso replacing top scorer Tudorie, who was missing from the matchday squad

Botosani made three changes from the side that drew with CFR Cluj last time out, with Eduard Pap replacing Anestis in goal, and captain Andrei Miron and Matricardi coming into the defence at the expense of Pavlovic and Friday

Petrolul were in their usual all yellow whilst Botosani were in all red

Match report

The visitors started brightly with Bodisteanu stepping inside Stefan Radulescu, but his 20-yard shot was straight at keeper Raul Balbarau, who comfortably held onto it. Ploeisti centre-back Papp was shown a yellow card with barely 5 minutes played for a foul on Chica-Rosa 30 yards out, and Alexandru Cimpanu’s left footed free-kick bounced awkwardly. Balbarau took no chances to push the ball off for a corner when it looked to be going narrowly wide anyway.

Two minutes later Cimpanu teed up Bodisteanu but the shot from 20 yards was blocked.

The limited responses from the home side were a cross from Hanca from the right wing but Irobiso clattered into Miron to concede a freekick. In the 8^th minute Botosani keeper Pap had to come out of his area to head a long ball off for a throw in.

Against the run of play, Petrolul took the lead. A dangerous cross from Catalin Tolea was put out for corner by Miron. The delivery from Radulescu went beyond the far post where Grozav headed back across goal, and with the defenders standing and watching, Tolea struck the bouncing ball across goal into far corner. 1-0 after 14 minutes.

Botosani looked to hit back right away and from Cimpanu’s left-footed free kick from the right, Papa’s flick on hit a defender and rolled off for a corner. Tiganasu then had two attempts on goal from the edge of area blocked.

Petrolul won another corner which Jyry sent to the near post where Ricardinho’s flicked header reached the unmarked Grozav at far post, who buried header from 6 yards. More slack marking from Botosani and it was now 2-0 with 18 minutes played.

A dreadful piece of defender from Petrolul played a poor clearance to Bodisteanu, who was free inside the area on the left-hand side, but the pull back was poor and gratefully cleared.

Papp played a long ball out of the Petrolul defence for Irobiso to run onto down the right-hand channel and Nigerian striker played a pass inside for Hanca to run onto in space inside the area and slip the ball under the advancing keeper. Offside was given against Irobiso but it was checked by VAR. After a wait of over 4 minutes the goal was awarded ! 3-0 with 28 minutes on the clock

Another yellow card for the Oilmen arrived a couple of minutes later when Tolea slid in late on Papa and Petrolul showed they were content to rough things up as after Bodisteanu and Chica-Rosa showed some nice inter play, Ricardinho hauled Bodisteanu to the floor. Ongenda tried to play in Chica-Rosa inside Ricardinho, but the covering Papp shepherded the ball off a goal kick.

Just before the interval Botosani keeper Pap was able to punch a corner clear, but when Tiganasu committed a bad foul on Hanca near the corner flag under no pressure, the keeper failed to cleanly catch the free kick under his own crossbar, but was able to gather the loose ball before anyone else could get to it. It was hardly convincing from the keeper.

Pap was called into action again in added on time, charging out of his area to head away, but this time the direction was not so good as before, and Radulescu gained possession but was forced wide, and his cross was headed away by a defender.

The statistics at half time show Botosani having had 51% of the possession but they trailed by three goals !

In an attempt to get back into the match Botosani made three changes at the break but although the visitors had the lion’s share of the ball, Petrolul were content to sit back and soak up the pressure, and the visitors rarely showed the guile to create enough chances.

Substitute Mitrov ran down the left for Botosani but his hopeful shot sailed a couple of feet over the bar with the keeper not troubled. Four minutes into the second period a poor corner from Florescu, another half-time introduction. was cleared, and when Botosani reworked the ball, Mitrov ran at two defenders but from a tight angle his left footed shot hit the post with the keeper beaten. Ongenda then tried his luck form 25 yards, but the shot bounced into the midriff of Balbarau.

At the other end a cross from the right wing fell invitingly to Grozav but Jyry was penalised for his  challenge on Miron, and then in the 53^rd Petrolul had a good opportunity when Radulescu, free on right, cut back onto his left foot but with two players in support in space to his left, he opted to go it alone and the shot was blocked.

Pap needed to leave his area again, this time chest controlling a through ball before hammering it  back down field. Chica-Rosa then spread the ball wide, but Florescu shot harmlessly well over the bar from 25 yards.

For the home side Hanca ran from halfway and fed Radulescu on the right but ball into area was poor and easily cleared. Petrolul had the ball in the net again in the 66^th minute when Irobiso calmly finished from 6 yards, but Radulescu had been yards offside when played in on the right

Petrolul substitute Dennis Radu was lucky to avoid a yellow card after bringing down Florescu with sliding tackle. Ongenda took the free kick from just outside the area but put it a foot wide.

Petrolul won a free kick in a promising position when Jyry was brought down just outside the area by Matricardi as he spun away from the Argentinian. Jyry chipped to the back post, but Friday was able to head away.

With 15 minutes remaining, Florescu won a free kick just outside the Petrolul area after being chopped down by Keita. With keeper Balbarau flying through the air, the curling effort from Florescu drifted just the wrong side of the post. Balbarau then received a harsh looking yellow card for taking too long to take the goal kick.

A poor back pass from Matricardi forced Pap to leave area again, to slice a clearance off for a throw, then Matricardi’s poor game continued with a sloppy pass that was intercepted, but the cross from Radu went well behind the unmarked Irobiso.

Radu then cynically pulled back Tiganasu and for the second time was very lucky not to get a yellow card.

Mitricardi headed Florescu’s corner over the bar but there must have been a deflection as a corner was given. When the cleared corner was reworked it was played in from the right by Florescu with his left foot, bouncing across the 6-yard box. Lopez, unmarked at back post, headed home from close range for a consolation goal. With 86 minutes gone it was now 3-1.

A minute later Ongenda won possession midway inside the Petrolul half enabling Lopez to put Mouaddib clear. With a tight angle the pass should have been played across to the goal to the unmarked Florescu with an open goal but instead the shot was blocked by the keeper’s legs, and Lopez's follow up deflected off the stretching Papp and over the bar. It was a great chance missed and could have set up a tense finale. However, Petrolul were able to see out the three added on minutes with few alarms.

Despite the victory, Petrolul remaining in 7^th place, but only three points off third place. Botosani fell to the bottom of the table, going below Gloria Buzau on goal difference.

Botosani appeared to get the benefit of some soft decisions from the referee but didn’t really take advantage and on this showing need to strengthen the centre of their defence.

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufSQMzj2Cyo

FC Petrolul Ploiesti : Balbarau – Ricardinho, Papp, Roche, Tolea – Radulescu ( Radu ), Hanca ( Mateiu ), Keita, Jyry ( Huja ), Grozav – Irobiso ( Demirel )

FC Botosani : Pap – Sadiku ( Friday ), Miron, Matricardi, Tiganasu – Cimpanu ( Mouaddib ), Papa, Ongenda, Aldair ( Florescu ), Bodisteanu ( Mitrov ) – Chica-Rosa ( Lopez )

Post Script : It was subsequently announced that Alexandru Tudorie missed the match as he had signed for Chinese side Wuhan Three Towns.